Very sorry I again didn't reply to reviews last chapter how rude of me :).
Spiderbear: Why do I like making characters fall? It's not to be mean, it's a really bad way of getting them to cheat death. Although I have got to come up with something else, I promise you nobody will be falling to their death for quite sometime. Of course Trent is alive, after making him fall 9 or so stories you don't think he'd be dead do you?
Cristalina: Okay, chapter 4 review. I hope I reflect Suzan and Sarah well. I try to take what I can from your work on their character but correct me if I go drastically wrong (like Suzan handing out Christmas presents in July). At this stage there won't be a Jonathan/Joanna thing going on as firstly I don't write good romance (look what happened to Natasha), and secondly I don't really know where I'd take it, which is all the more reason I'll be waiting to see what you do with your fic not that I'll copy it. As for your chapter 5 review quite a few unanswered questions, yes…
*****
Velvet looked over to Joanna who was still asleep at 6am. Most of the time Velvet was at her own place but despite Joanna's slight protest Velvet insisted she stayed around with Joanna. Normally by this time Joanna was racing out the door, it was strange to see her sleeping peacefully. Velvet was about to leave herself when Jo woke up.
"Hey Velvet" Joanna said sleepily
"Hi, you promise me you'll take it easy okay?" Velvet said
"Yeah I will… It is so good to be able to stay in bed" Joanna sat up for a moment "Ow, still hurts" Jo said rubbing her back
"Call me if you need me" Velvet walked over to the door
"Geez you nag" Joanna replied
"Only because I care" Velvet said as she opened the door
"Oh don't use that line, you'll make me feel guilty" Joanna frowned
"One thing I beat you at hands down Jo" Velvet laughed as she left "See you later" Velvet closed the bed room door
She walked outside and locked the main door. She got into her car and drove to the Institute like always. On arrival she went into the cafeteria to eat breakfast, Jonathan and Carrington were already there. They were talking quietly between themselves. Velvet decided not to interrupt but she was called over anyway.
"Hi Velvet, how is Joanna?" Jonathan asked
"She is okay" Velvet replied as she took some cereal that was made in two seconds as well as some coffee.
"Well that's good, are you ready to talk mission?" Carrington asked
"Um… okay" Velvet replied slightly caught off guard with Carrington jumping straight into a briefing.
"Firstly we've found out that Andy Elcallaran is the official head of dataDyne now" Carrington said
"That name sounds familiar" Velvet replied
"That's because his father Luke previously ran dataDyne before Cassandra. Back then dataDyne was a far more ethical company, sure while it wasn't as high as Cassandra got it the company was still doing very well and it was only because of Skedar interference that dataDyne were allowed to gain so much money anyway" Carrington told her "Anyway Andy is running dataDyne in a very similar way to his father, but there are two sides of dataDyne, the one headed by Andy and the one headed by Trent" Carrington continued
"But Trent is dead isn't he?" Velvet asked
"No. We are pretty certain Trent escaped alive. I might as well tell you that Jonathan went to Trent's hideout last night to find out some information. Then we confirmed that it was very likely Trent is still alive. However do not tell anybody that Jonathan went to the hideout last night, except maybe Joanna" Carrington said
"Okay" Velvet replied not asking why simply because she knew Carrington wouldn't tell her.
"Obviously this has created conflict and basically one side will not recognize the other, however we suspect that this 'conflict' will be raised to the next level. Also Jonathan found a pistol that dataDyne plan to release to outdo the Falcon. Foster is well, unavailable at the moment, he said he'd be in later" Carrington said
In the infirmary
"Owww! My head!" Foster cried out holding his head
"Stop… shouting already" Grimshaw replied
"I'll stop shouting when you do" Foster said
"Honestly, why do you two get drunk when you have to come in the next day?" Sarah asked
"Now she's yelling" Grimshaw said
"Yeah stop it" Foster said
"Oh knock it off" Sarah then got a needle of some kind
"Oh no you aren't sticking that…" Foster stopped mid sentence as he fell soundly asleep as Sarah put the needle into him
"Arggghhh I'm getting out of here I don't like…" Grimshaw ran and got up but Sarah got him with the tranquilizer knocked him out and dragged him into a bed.
"Such awful breath…" Sarah grumbled as she finished dragging Grimshaw "Well at least I'll get some peace" Sarah said as she went back to her work
Back to the cafeteria
"Anyway, Foster will test the weapon when he is ready. In the meantime Sean is going to meet with Andy as he is on location in Miraville. Hopefully Andy will have some information for us as he well no doubt cooperate in our attempt to remove the other side of dataDyne. As for you two I want you to go investigate that gang that attacked you both" Carrington said
"But how, we don't even know where to look?" Velvet asked as she continued to eat. Carrington talked most of the time it was easy to have a meal during a briefing. Ideal for early in the morning as not many other people were here, Carrington didn't seem to mind either.
"Recently gangs have been causing problems in these areas. According to the news the problems here have become more common and dangerous" Carrington told them as he showed them a map that was displayed in the middle of the table "Seems like an amazing coincidence that only now they have started causing problems with their new weapons most likely" Carrington said
"I still can't understand. What would dataDyne get out of giving these weapons to gangs?" Jonathan asked
"That's what I want you to find out. Surely it's more than testing these weapons as dataDyne knows how effective the dragon is. The US military bought it because of this reason. Regardless I'll leave it to you two to do the rest, and I'll contact Sean and let him know what he has to do a bit later" Carrington said
"What you haven't even asked him yet?" Jonathan asked
"No, I know he is staying at the Miraville Lightning Star Hotel though, lucky guy" Carrington said "Any questions about 'your' mission?" Carrington asked putting emphasis on the your.
"No sir" Jonathan replied
"No" Velvet said as the pair stood up
"Good, prepare for the mission, you'll leave at about 11am" Carrington told them as he too got up and headed for his office.
*****
Sean awoke the next morning, he had to remind himself of where he was, what was going on. The TV was turned on and Junior was sitting in front of it.
"Hey Sean" Junior called out
"Hi sleep well?" Sean asked. The usual polite customary questions
"Alright… I haven't watched TV in almost a year" Junior said
"Heh. Had anything to eat?" Sean asked
"Yeah, the food is nice…" Junior replied
However the phone rang. Who could be calling him? Sean picked it up.
"Hello?" Sean called into it… he hadn't used a phone in a long time, it felt weird. He didn't bother to turn on the video line that was now a given on phones.
"Mr. Lomberson, a Mr. Carrington is on the line for you" The hotel employee said
"Put him through" Sean sighed, what could Carrington want now he thought.
"Hello Sean. Sorry to bother you if you were asleep" Carrington said
"Oh no, I've been awake for ages" Sean lied
"Yes. Anyway just calling you to tell you to turn the communicator on" Carrington laughed
"Well okay" Sean replied as he hung up and turned the communicator on fearing what Carrington might have planned for him.
"Great, now don't worry your assignment isn't difficult" Carrington reassured Sean
"Well, I can't really go away from here" Sean replied
"You don't need to, and if it's Junior you are worried about you can relax, you can take him with you as you are only meeting somebody" Carrington said
"What? Who?" Sean was totally confused
"Okay, firstly you are meeting Andy Elcallaran the head of the new dataDyne. I made an appointment for you to see him, and he asked why and I said to discuss matters of mutual interest. After I told him what happened with Trent he told me he knew of Junior and his mother, he also told me that he updated Trent's former wife on where Trent was. His head office is in the very city you are in, you are meeting him in an hour from now" Carrington told him
"Understood" Sean replied. He walked into his room out of earshot from Junior. "Do you know why he couldn't financially support Junior and stuff?" Sean asked
"Apparently because Cassandra had blocked all money transfers from dataDyne's accounts and the accounts of its employees to individual accounts unless she approved it herself. Andy says he is certain that Trent asked Cassandra to do this, and of course if Andy gave money face to face, Trent would have him hunted down for interfering in something that wasn't his business. He didn't go into great details on that so I'm willing to bet Trent and Andy have had a few confrontations in the past" Carrington said
"Okay, so you just want me to talk to him and find out things?" Sean asked
"Yes, although I have to admit Andy was quite naïve to tell me things that he did over the phone especially at the moment with his issues involving the two sides of dataDyne. I mean he is only 22 so is a little unexperienced in such matters, but nonetheless he is very popular within lighter side shall we call it of dataDyne. Also make sure Junior knows of Andy because Andy says that Junior knows him if not then call back and we can discuss another plan. Anyway I'm a little busy so I'll let you go, good luck" Carrington said as he turned off the communicator.
Sean sat back and took in everything Carrington had told him. He wondered if Junior should come, but if Andy is a good friend then maybe it's for the best. What if though Junior doesn't know or remember him. He walked into the main room.
"Hey Junior, do you know somebody called Andy Elcallaran" Sean asked
"Andy? Yes, he's somebody my Mum used to see often, although I haven't seen him in a long time" Junior replied
Well that fits, Sean thought. "He lives in this city, and my boss wants me to see him" Sean said "Andy told my boss he wants to meet you again as well" Sean finished
"Well alright, does he know about…" Junior started but couldn't bring himself to finish
"Yeah he knows" Sean said
"Oh okay. He's a very good person, he helped my Mum out a lot" Junior said
45 minutes later they had arrived at the dataDyne building, although on the way the thing that struck Sean the most was how much colder it was as compared to the standard temperatures on the Maian planet. This couldn't be right though, it was only 2 stories high, most of dataDyne's buildings were towering structures that could be seen from miles away, even the lesser important buildings were at least 8 stories high. Regardless they walked in and the dataDyne logo was present on the service desk.
"Good morning sir, how can I help you?" The girl behind the desk greeted Sean. If Suzan greeted anybody at the Institute this way they'd either die of shock or have a heart attack. They were lucky to get a hello from her, however she did do her job very well and there weren't many people around who could fill the position Suzan had, not to mention having to cope with the stress of the job as well.
"Yes I have an appointment with Mr. Elcallaran" Sean replied
"Mr. Lomberson correct, yes he is expecting you second floor just straight ahead" The girl smiled as Sean and Junior left and walked up one flight of stairs and walked straight ahead down the corridor that had 4 doors on each side. Then at the end was a larger door that was open. Sean waited at the door politely. It was a rather small office compared to Cassandra's but having said that Cassandra's office looked very empty with only the desk in there. Andy's office was considerably more crowded but it seemed he was a very organised man.
"Ah do come in, Lomberson I take it?" The man asked. He wore a usual business suit, shirt and tie.
"Yes and Mr. Elcallaran" Sean asked
"Call me Andy, I'm not much for formalities and I haven't seen you in a long time" Andy said looked at Junior
"Hello Andy" Junior replied giving a slight smile that Sean had never seen before
"So, how long have you been running dataDyne for?" Sean asked wanted to lead up to questions after using small talk to make Andy feel more comfortable
"You don't have to beat around the bush with me, I'll tell you what you want to know on either subject although it might be wise if Junior leaves for the time being" Andy said
"That okay?" Sean asked, knowing it was likely that Andy knew Junior better than he did, he hadn't even known him for 24 hours yet.
"Ok" Junior replied
"Go to the first door on your right from here, you'll find some stuff there" Andy told him
"Thanks Andy" Junior said
As Junior left the room, Andy went behind his desk and sat on a chair. Sean sat on a chair on the other side
"Is Jessica really gone?" Andy asked
"Jessica?" Sean asked but then got it but didn't interrupt
"Junior's mother" Andy replied
"Yes" Sean replied. Was she though, he only went on what Junior had told him, but he didn't want to tell Andy that.
"It was coming, I knew it was, and I couldn't do anything because of Trent, even now his shadow looms over this company. Jessica and I were good friends, but nothing more, Trent saw it otherwise. It was crazy there was more than a 15 year gap between us. I first knew Junior when he was around 2 when I met Jessica in a team assignment. Even after Trent and she separated she continued to work for dataDyne. However a year later she became so ill she was unable to continue working, I continued to see her to see if she was okay and help her and Junior best I could. This went on for about 4 years until Cassandra made the order she did and of course I never appealed to her because I was afraid of her and I was certain Trent was behind it as I was giving her money so she could survive. To treat her condition she needed constant treatment, and she just couldn't afford that now her cash flow had been dramatically reduced. I needed to do something to help her, I just couldn't let a human life waste like that just because Trent was selfish. So I went and tried to see her. Before I know it, I was attacked, whether it was by the NSA or dataDyne I never knew but I was lucky to survive." Andy said, he seemed angry and frustrated and wanted to tell this to somebody for a long time.
Sean sat for a moment
"I'm sorry, I've said too much" Andy sighed
"It's something I need to know otherwise to me it's just a like a book with half the pages missing. Not that I'm dumping this on you, but would you be happier if you had Junior yourself?" Sean asked "I'm happy to do it, but you seem to know him better" Sean didn't want to say it but he knew he had to. He knew Junior would probably be happier with him. Although after he had said it the thought that is was all a trap of some kind.
Andy thought for a moment.
"It's not safe for me, believe me I want to, but recently I've had a few close calls with the other side dataDyne" Andy sighed. Sean now knew he shouldn't have asked for more than one reason.
"Speaking of which what do you know about the other dataDyne?" Sean asked not wanting to dwell on the more negative subject for too long.
"Ha, not much I'm afraid. You guys were lucky to get them where they were, even the very marginal forces I've sent out can't find out anything of great importance. Of course I mailed to Jessica all the time of Trent's whereabouts because she wanted to know, I never asked why I just did it. I could only find out by getting somebody to hack the other dataDyne systems, which was really easy as we are dataDyne, but it's getting harder by the day as they become organised" Andy said "Of course we can still hack them but…" Andy was cut off mid sentence a loud explosion was heard at the front door.
"OH SHIT!" Andy shouted out as he drew a Super Dragon from underneath his desk and pressed an alarm switch "Get Junior in here now!" Andy ordered
Sean didn't argue as he went into the room Junior was in and he was already waiting at the door wondering what the loud noises were. Sean held his hand and went back in the office.
"You got a weapon, or anything?" Andy asked
"Yeah I do" Sean replied showing the Falcon 2 (Scope) as per usual
"Good, then let's see what's going on" Andy said "Junior follow the path it will lead back to the hotel which is yours, you'll be safe" Andy said as he pressed a yet another switch which led to a secret passageway.
"Why don't we leave now?" Sean asked
"I can't leave my employees to die like this, you can leave if you want but I'd like it if you stayed" Andy said
Sean thought for a moment, again this could all be a trap, but even so if Andy wanted Junior he would have said when he asked. There wasn't time to think logically.
"Fine, but don't go down the path, they may know it's there" Sean tried to give a logical explanation to why Junior shouldn't go down the path.
"Yeah you're right" Andy replied as Junior left
They overlooked from the second floor. The place was a mess, the plants were knocked over the glass was blown out. Multiple unsuspecting dataDyne soldiers were looking around.
"Should we go to the second floor? Trent wanted him dead, if we fail again he'll be very unhappy" One of the guards said
"Yeah, we'll give his head to Trent as a present" The other guard laughed
"Not if I can help it!" Andy shouted as he used the Super Dragon's grenade function killing all the guards on the entrance.
They moved down the stairs.
"Sean, this way" Andy said as he got out a remote and pushed yet another button opening the door to where all the employees and a few guards where hiding.
"Go around and see if there are any left" Andy told him. Sean nodded as he left "Oh take Junior out of here too" Andy added "I'll catch up with you later"
Sean looked around, however surprisingly there were only a few looking in the offices which were promptly nailed by his Falcon 2, however a lot of the computers were damaged or were in the process of being hacked into, although there probably wasn't enough time for the attack squad to get any information. Sean then went back up to Andy's office and pressed the same switch to open the door. Fortunately it was no trap and Junior was waiting for him.
"Oh Sean" Junior hugged him as if he was really scared, which he probably was.
"Is Andy… okay?" Junior asked in a panicky tone
"He'll be fine, come on let's get out of here" Sean replied
*****
Velvet and Jonathan had got off the jumpship a good distance from the where they were supposed to be in order to blend in to the darker surroundings. Darker was quite the right word, as there was graffiti on almost every single building, rubbish everywhere, even bullet holes on some of the walls it was definitely another city that wasn't not been taken care of.
"Firstly, look around, know your surroundings, although I don't need to be telling you this. Then plan your attack, at night is probably the best time but judge the situation for yourselves, Carrington out" Carrington told the pair.
"Well let's look around" Jonathan said "If we can remember anything in the darkness"
"Scared of the dark Jonathan?" Velvet giggled
"Definitely, your sister scares me" Jonathan replied
Velvet gave a slight laugh before hearing a gun shot.
"It came from over there" Velvet went running
"Velvet stop!" Jonathan came running after her
As they continued running Jonathan saw what was going on but Velvet couldn't possibly see it at her angle. It was a discussion of some kind, Jonathan could see one of the men talking, he caught Velvet and pulled her back, he then put a finger on his lips.
"You better do it or else" One of them said it was a deep male voice
"Yeah, you don't want to deal with the consequences" Another voice this time a woman
"Ffffffine…" A young voice stuttered. By the sound of it, it was a male who seemed rather young.
"It better be fine, or that shot will be aimed just a little higher next time" The male voice said
Judging by the footsteps they went to leave. Only 2 pairs of footsteps, Velvet showed Jonathan 10 fingers which meant she wanted to have a look in about 10 seconds, Jonathan nodded understanding this and giving his okay. The footsteps began to grow fainter but still only two pairs, finally when Velvet was about to look they heard the third lot of footsteps, they were heading in their direction. Velvet backed away, as she and Jonathan hid behind a large rubbish bin. After they had walked past they got a look, the third lot of footsteps must have been the younger person, he wasn't very tall and he had his head down and was muttering something aloud his voice filled with fear.
"We attack together, corner him here" Jonathan said
Velvet agreed as they began to make their move quietly approaching the younger person. Jonathan then made his move strangling him by the neck and threw him up against the wall where he was met with both Velvet and Jonathan standing in front of him using their arms to block his escape.
"Just what was that about?" Velvet looked at the guy. There was no way this guy could be over 16, he wore mostly dark clothing and had short blonde hair
"Wha… what was wha…t about" The guy stuttered
"You know what I mean, with those people! What's going on!" Velvet demanded
"I'm not telling you anything" The guy replied beginning to get a bit of confidence however it was short lived. Jonathan then took him by the neck and began to lift up above the ground. He kicked his legs pointlessly
"You better answer her, or we will be forced to hurt you" Jonathan said
"ok…. Ok… they want… just let… me down…first" He was choking because Jonathan was holding him
"Jon, let him down" Velvet said
"Okay, alright" Jonathan let go of his grip
"They want me to blow up this factory. We are meeting tonight to get these newer weapons to do the job" the boy said
"Do you know where these new weapons come from?" Velvet asked
"I think they mentioned some group called data fine. Damn it, I'm saying too much" The boy frowned
"Where and when are you meeting? We can find out anyway so just spare us the trouble" Jonathan said
"They'll kill me if I tell anybody, I'm in enough trouble as it is" The boy was beginning to get upset
"And I'll kill you if you don't" Jonathan replied
"I wish I never had to do this… fine, we are meeting around the basketball courts and stuff at around 7 o'clock tonight" The boy told them
"Why did you do this then?" Velvet asked
"Had to, can I go now?" The boy asked
Velvet and Jon exchanged glances.
"Fine" Jonathan said
The boy left and as he went around the corner Jonathan and Velvet started talking.
"So sad. Forced to led a life like that… it's amazing you don't think anything of it" Velvet said
"Nothing we can do, but at least we have a moderate chance at finding out exactly what dataDyne wants with these gangs. Also we must be ready to search elsewhere because the kid could be leading us into either nothing or a trap or he doesn't know everything" Jonathan said
*****
A/N: A bit long with little action, but lots of lead up.
Spiderbear: Why do I like making characters fall? It's not to be mean, it's a really bad way of getting them to cheat death. Although I have got to come up with something else, I promise you nobody will be falling to their death for quite sometime. Of course Trent is alive, after making him fall 9 or so stories you don't think he'd be dead do you?
Cristalina: Okay, chapter 4 review. I hope I reflect Suzan and Sarah well. I try to take what I can from your work on their character but correct me if I go drastically wrong (like Suzan handing out Christmas presents in July). At this stage there won't be a Jonathan/Joanna thing going on as firstly I don't write good romance (look what happened to Natasha), and secondly I don't really know where I'd take it, which is all the more reason I'll be waiting to see what you do with your fic not that I'll copy it. As for your chapter 5 review quite a few unanswered questions, yes…
*****
Velvet looked over to Joanna who was still asleep at 6am. Most of the time Velvet was at her own place but despite Joanna's slight protest Velvet insisted she stayed around with Joanna. Normally by this time Joanna was racing out the door, it was strange to see her sleeping peacefully. Velvet was about to leave herself when Jo woke up.
"Hey Velvet" Joanna said sleepily
"Hi, you promise me you'll take it easy okay?" Velvet said
"Yeah I will… It is so good to be able to stay in bed" Joanna sat up for a moment "Ow, still hurts" Jo said rubbing her back
"Call me if you need me" Velvet walked over to the door
"Geez you nag" Joanna replied
"Only because I care" Velvet said as she opened the door
"Oh don't use that line, you'll make me feel guilty" Joanna frowned
"One thing I beat you at hands down Jo" Velvet laughed as she left "See you later" Velvet closed the bed room door
She walked outside and locked the main door. She got into her car and drove to the Institute like always. On arrival she went into the cafeteria to eat breakfast, Jonathan and Carrington were already there. They were talking quietly between themselves. Velvet decided not to interrupt but she was called over anyway.
"Hi Velvet, how is Joanna?" Jonathan asked
"She is okay" Velvet replied as she took some cereal that was made in two seconds as well as some coffee.
"Well that's good, are you ready to talk mission?" Carrington asked
"Um… okay" Velvet replied slightly caught off guard with Carrington jumping straight into a briefing.
"Firstly we've found out that Andy Elcallaran is the official head of dataDyne now" Carrington said
"That name sounds familiar" Velvet replied
"That's because his father Luke previously ran dataDyne before Cassandra. Back then dataDyne was a far more ethical company, sure while it wasn't as high as Cassandra got it the company was still doing very well and it was only because of Skedar interference that dataDyne were allowed to gain so much money anyway" Carrington told her "Anyway Andy is running dataDyne in a very similar way to his father, but there are two sides of dataDyne, the one headed by Andy and the one headed by Trent" Carrington continued
"But Trent is dead isn't he?" Velvet asked
"No. We are pretty certain Trent escaped alive. I might as well tell you that Jonathan went to Trent's hideout last night to find out some information. Then we confirmed that it was very likely Trent is still alive. However do not tell anybody that Jonathan went to the hideout last night, except maybe Joanna" Carrington said
"Okay" Velvet replied not asking why simply because she knew Carrington wouldn't tell her.
"Obviously this has created conflict and basically one side will not recognize the other, however we suspect that this 'conflict' will be raised to the next level. Also Jonathan found a pistol that dataDyne plan to release to outdo the Falcon. Foster is well, unavailable at the moment, he said he'd be in later" Carrington said
In the infirmary
"Owww! My head!" Foster cried out holding his head
"Stop… shouting already" Grimshaw replied
"I'll stop shouting when you do" Foster said
"Honestly, why do you two get drunk when you have to come in the next day?" Sarah asked
"Now she's yelling" Grimshaw said
"Yeah stop it" Foster said
"Oh knock it off" Sarah then got a needle of some kind
"Oh no you aren't sticking that…" Foster stopped mid sentence as he fell soundly asleep as Sarah put the needle into him
"Arggghhh I'm getting out of here I don't like…" Grimshaw ran and got up but Sarah got him with the tranquilizer knocked him out and dragged him into a bed.
"Such awful breath…" Sarah grumbled as she finished dragging Grimshaw "Well at least I'll get some peace" Sarah said as she went back to her work
Back to the cafeteria
"Anyway, Foster will test the weapon when he is ready. In the meantime Sean is going to meet with Andy as he is on location in Miraville. Hopefully Andy will have some information for us as he well no doubt cooperate in our attempt to remove the other side of dataDyne. As for you two I want you to go investigate that gang that attacked you both" Carrington said
"But how, we don't even know where to look?" Velvet asked as she continued to eat. Carrington talked most of the time it was easy to have a meal during a briefing. Ideal for early in the morning as not many other people were here, Carrington didn't seem to mind either.
"Recently gangs have been causing problems in these areas. According to the news the problems here have become more common and dangerous" Carrington told them as he showed them a map that was displayed in the middle of the table "Seems like an amazing coincidence that only now they have started causing problems with their new weapons most likely" Carrington said
"I still can't understand. What would dataDyne get out of giving these weapons to gangs?" Jonathan asked
"That's what I want you to find out. Surely it's more than testing these weapons as dataDyne knows how effective the dragon is. The US military bought it because of this reason. Regardless I'll leave it to you two to do the rest, and I'll contact Sean and let him know what he has to do a bit later" Carrington said
"What you haven't even asked him yet?" Jonathan asked
"No, I know he is staying at the Miraville Lightning Star Hotel though, lucky guy" Carrington said "Any questions about 'your' mission?" Carrington asked putting emphasis on the your.
"No sir" Jonathan replied
"No" Velvet said as the pair stood up
"Good, prepare for the mission, you'll leave at about 11am" Carrington told them as he too got up and headed for his office.
*****
Sean awoke the next morning, he had to remind himself of where he was, what was going on. The TV was turned on and Junior was sitting in front of it.
"Hey Sean" Junior called out
"Hi sleep well?" Sean asked. The usual polite customary questions
"Alright… I haven't watched TV in almost a year" Junior said
"Heh. Had anything to eat?" Sean asked
"Yeah, the food is nice…" Junior replied
However the phone rang. Who could be calling him? Sean picked it up.
"Hello?" Sean called into it… he hadn't used a phone in a long time, it felt weird. He didn't bother to turn on the video line that was now a given on phones.
"Mr. Lomberson, a Mr. Carrington is on the line for you" The hotel employee said
"Put him through" Sean sighed, what could Carrington want now he thought.
"Hello Sean. Sorry to bother you if you were asleep" Carrington said
"Oh no, I've been awake for ages" Sean lied
"Yes. Anyway just calling you to tell you to turn the communicator on" Carrington laughed
"Well okay" Sean replied as he hung up and turned the communicator on fearing what Carrington might have planned for him.
"Great, now don't worry your assignment isn't difficult" Carrington reassured Sean
"Well, I can't really go away from here" Sean replied
"You don't need to, and if it's Junior you are worried about you can relax, you can take him with you as you are only meeting somebody" Carrington said
"What? Who?" Sean was totally confused
"Okay, firstly you are meeting Andy Elcallaran the head of the new dataDyne. I made an appointment for you to see him, and he asked why and I said to discuss matters of mutual interest. After I told him what happened with Trent he told me he knew of Junior and his mother, he also told me that he updated Trent's former wife on where Trent was. His head office is in the very city you are in, you are meeting him in an hour from now" Carrington told him
"Understood" Sean replied. He walked into his room out of earshot from Junior. "Do you know why he couldn't financially support Junior and stuff?" Sean asked
"Apparently because Cassandra had blocked all money transfers from dataDyne's accounts and the accounts of its employees to individual accounts unless she approved it herself. Andy says he is certain that Trent asked Cassandra to do this, and of course if Andy gave money face to face, Trent would have him hunted down for interfering in something that wasn't his business. He didn't go into great details on that so I'm willing to bet Trent and Andy have had a few confrontations in the past" Carrington said
"Okay, so you just want me to talk to him and find out things?" Sean asked
"Yes, although I have to admit Andy was quite naïve to tell me things that he did over the phone especially at the moment with his issues involving the two sides of dataDyne. I mean he is only 22 so is a little unexperienced in such matters, but nonetheless he is very popular within lighter side shall we call it of dataDyne. Also make sure Junior knows of Andy because Andy says that Junior knows him if not then call back and we can discuss another plan. Anyway I'm a little busy so I'll let you go, good luck" Carrington said as he turned off the communicator.
Sean sat back and took in everything Carrington had told him. He wondered if Junior should come, but if Andy is a good friend then maybe it's for the best. What if though Junior doesn't know or remember him. He walked into the main room.
"Hey Junior, do you know somebody called Andy Elcallaran" Sean asked
"Andy? Yes, he's somebody my Mum used to see often, although I haven't seen him in a long time" Junior replied
Well that fits, Sean thought. "He lives in this city, and my boss wants me to see him" Sean said "Andy told my boss he wants to meet you again as well" Sean finished
"Well alright, does he know about…" Junior started but couldn't bring himself to finish
"Yeah he knows" Sean said
"Oh okay. He's a very good person, he helped my Mum out a lot" Junior said
45 minutes later they had arrived at the dataDyne building, although on the way the thing that struck Sean the most was how much colder it was as compared to the standard temperatures on the Maian planet. This couldn't be right though, it was only 2 stories high, most of dataDyne's buildings were towering structures that could be seen from miles away, even the lesser important buildings were at least 8 stories high. Regardless they walked in and the dataDyne logo was present on the service desk.
"Good morning sir, how can I help you?" The girl behind the desk greeted Sean. If Suzan greeted anybody at the Institute this way they'd either die of shock or have a heart attack. They were lucky to get a hello from her, however she did do her job very well and there weren't many people around who could fill the position Suzan had, not to mention having to cope with the stress of the job as well.
"Yes I have an appointment with Mr. Elcallaran" Sean replied
"Mr. Lomberson correct, yes he is expecting you second floor just straight ahead" The girl smiled as Sean and Junior left and walked up one flight of stairs and walked straight ahead down the corridor that had 4 doors on each side. Then at the end was a larger door that was open. Sean waited at the door politely. It was a rather small office compared to Cassandra's but having said that Cassandra's office looked very empty with only the desk in there. Andy's office was considerably more crowded but it seemed he was a very organised man.
"Ah do come in, Lomberson I take it?" The man asked. He wore a usual business suit, shirt and tie.
"Yes and Mr. Elcallaran" Sean asked
"Call me Andy, I'm not much for formalities and I haven't seen you in a long time" Andy said looked at Junior
"Hello Andy" Junior replied giving a slight smile that Sean had never seen before
"So, how long have you been running dataDyne for?" Sean asked wanted to lead up to questions after using small talk to make Andy feel more comfortable
"You don't have to beat around the bush with me, I'll tell you what you want to know on either subject although it might be wise if Junior leaves for the time being" Andy said
"That okay?" Sean asked, knowing it was likely that Andy knew Junior better than he did, he hadn't even known him for 24 hours yet.
"Ok" Junior replied
"Go to the first door on your right from here, you'll find some stuff there" Andy told him
"Thanks Andy" Junior said
As Junior left the room, Andy went behind his desk and sat on a chair. Sean sat on a chair on the other side
"Is Jessica really gone?" Andy asked
"Jessica?" Sean asked but then got it but didn't interrupt
"Junior's mother" Andy replied
"Yes" Sean replied. Was she though, he only went on what Junior had told him, but he didn't want to tell Andy that.
"It was coming, I knew it was, and I couldn't do anything because of Trent, even now his shadow looms over this company. Jessica and I were good friends, but nothing more, Trent saw it otherwise. It was crazy there was more than a 15 year gap between us. I first knew Junior when he was around 2 when I met Jessica in a team assignment. Even after Trent and she separated she continued to work for dataDyne. However a year later she became so ill she was unable to continue working, I continued to see her to see if she was okay and help her and Junior best I could. This went on for about 4 years until Cassandra made the order she did and of course I never appealed to her because I was afraid of her and I was certain Trent was behind it as I was giving her money so she could survive. To treat her condition she needed constant treatment, and she just couldn't afford that now her cash flow had been dramatically reduced. I needed to do something to help her, I just couldn't let a human life waste like that just because Trent was selfish. So I went and tried to see her. Before I know it, I was attacked, whether it was by the NSA or dataDyne I never knew but I was lucky to survive." Andy said, he seemed angry and frustrated and wanted to tell this to somebody for a long time.
Sean sat for a moment
"I'm sorry, I've said too much" Andy sighed
"It's something I need to know otherwise to me it's just a like a book with half the pages missing. Not that I'm dumping this on you, but would you be happier if you had Junior yourself?" Sean asked "I'm happy to do it, but you seem to know him better" Sean didn't want to say it but he knew he had to. He knew Junior would probably be happier with him. Although after he had said it the thought that is was all a trap of some kind.
Andy thought for a moment.
"It's not safe for me, believe me I want to, but recently I've had a few close calls with the other side dataDyne" Andy sighed. Sean now knew he shouldn't have asked for more than one reason.
"Speaking of which what do you know about the other dataDyne?" Sean asked not wanting to dwell on the more negative subject for too long.
"Ha, not much I'm afraid. You guys were lucky to get them where they were, even the very marginal forces I've sent out can't find out anything of great importance. Of course I mailed to Jessica all the time of Trent's whereabouts because she wanted to know, I never asked why I just did it. I could only find out by getting somebody to hack the other dataDyne systems, which was really easy as we are dataDyne, but it's getting harder by the day as they become organised" Andy said "Of course we can still hack them but…" Andy was cut off mid sentence a loud explosion was heard at the front door.
"OH SHIT!" Andy shouted out as he drew a Super Dragon from underneath his desk and pressed an alarm switch "Get Junior in here now!" Andy ordered
Sean didn't argue as he went into the room Junior was in and he was already waiting at the door wondering what the loud noises were. Sean held his hand and went back in the office.
"You got a weapon, or anything?" Andy asked
"Yeah I do" Sean replied showing the Falcon 2 (Scope) as per usual
"Good, then let's see what's going on" Andy said "Junior follow the path it will lead back to the hotel which is yours, you'll be safe" Andy said as he pressed a yet another switch which led to a secret passageway.
"Why don't we leave now?" Sean asked
"I can't leave my employees to die like this, you can leave if you want but I'd like it if you stayed" Andy said
Sean thought for a moment, again this could all be a trap, but even so if Andy wanted Junior he would have said when he asked. There wasn't time to think logically.
"Fine, but don't go down the path, they may know it's there" Sean tried to give a logical explanation to why Junior shouldn't go down the path.
"Yeah you're right" Andy replied as Junior left
They overlooked from the second floor. The place was a mess, the plants were knocked over the glass was blown out. Multiple unsuspecting dataDyne soldiers were looking around.
"Should we go to the second floor? Trent wanted him dead, if we fail again he'll be very unhappy" One of the guards said
"Yeah, we'll give his head to Trent as a present" The other guard laughed
"Not if I can help it!" Andy shouted as he used the Super Dragon's grenade function killing all the guards on the entrance.
They moved down the stairs.
"Sean, this way" Andy said as he got out a remote and pushed yet another button opening the door to where all the employees and a few guards where hiding.
"Go around and see if there are any left" Andy told him. Sean nodded as he left "Oh take Junior out of here too" Andy added "I'll catch up with you later"
Sean looked around, however surprisingly there were only a few looking in the offices which were promptly nailed by his Falcon 2, however a lot of the computers were damaged or were in the process of being hacked into, although there probably wasn't enough time for the attack squad to get any information. Sean then went back up to Andy's office and pressed the same switch to open the door. Fortunately it was no trap and Junior was waiting for him.
"Oh Sean" Junior hugged him as if he was really scared, which he probably was.
"Is Andy… okay?" Junior asked in a panicky tone
"He'll be fine, come on let's get out of here" Sean replied
*****
Velvet and Jonathan had got off the jumpship a good distance from the where they were supposed to be in order to blend in to the darker surroundings. Darker was quite the right word, as there was graffiti on almost every single building, rubbish everywhere, even bullet holes on some of the walls it was definitely another city that wasn't not been taken care of.
"Firstly, look around, know your surroundings, although I don't need to be telling you this. Then plan your attack, at night is probably the best time but judge the situation for yourselves, Carrington out" Carrington told the pair.
"Well let's look around" Jonathan said "If we can remember anything in the darkness"
"Scared of the dark Jonathan?" Velvet giggled
"Definitely, your sister scares me" Jonathan replied
Velvet gave a slight laugh before hearing a gun shot.
"It came from over there" Velvet went running
"Velvet stop!" Jonathan came running after her
As they continued running Jonathan saw what was going on but Velvet couldn't possibly see it at her angle. It was a discussion of some kind, Jonathan could see one of the men talking, he caught Velvet and pulled her back, he then put a finger on his lips.
"You better do it or else" One of them said it was a deep male voice
"Yeah, you don't want to deal with the consequences" Another voice this time a woman
"Ffffffine…" A young voice stuttered. By the sound of it, it was a male who seemed rather young.
"It better be fine, or that shot will be aimed just a little higher next time" The male voice said
Judging by the footsteps they went to leave. Only 2 pairs of footsteps, Velvet showed Jonathan 10 fingers which meant she wanted to have a look in about 10 seconds, Jonathan nodded understanding this and giving his okay. The footsteps began to grow fainter but still only two pairs, finally when Velvet was about to look they heard the third lot of footsteps, they were heading in their direction. Velvet backed away, as she and Jonathan hid behind a large rubbish bin. After they had walked past they got a look, the third lot of footsteps must have been the younger person, he wasn't very tall and he had his head down and was muttering something aloud his voice filled with fear.
"We attack together, corner him here" Jonathan said
Velvet agreed as they began to make their move quietly approaching the younger person. Jonathan then made his move strangling him by the neck and threw him up against the wall where he was met with both Velvet and Jonathan standing in front of him using their arms to block his escape.
"Just what was that about?" Velvet looked at the guy. There was no way this guy could be over 16, he wore mostly dark clothing and had short blonde hair
"Wha… what was wha…t about" The guy stuttered
"You know what I mean, with those people! What's going on!" Velvet demanded
"I'm not telling you anything" The guy replied beginning to get a bit of confidence however it was short lived. Jonathan then took him by the neck and began to lift up above the ground. He kicked his legs pointlessly
"You better answer her, or we will be forced to hurt you" Jonathan said
"ok…. Ok… they want… just let… me down…first" He was choking because Jonathan was holding him
"Jon, let him down" Velvet said
"Okay, alright" Jonathan let go of his grip
"They want me to blow up this factory. We are meeting tonight to get these newer weapons to do the job" the boy said
"Do you know where these new weapons come from?" Velvet asked
"I think they mentioned some group called data fine. Damn it, I'm saying too much" The boy frowned
"Where and when are you meeting? We can find out anyway so just spare us the trouble" Jonathan said
"They'll kill me if I tell anybody, I'm in enough trouble as it is" The boy was beginning to get upset
"And I'll kill you if you don't" Jonathan replied
"I wish I never had to do this… fine, we are meeting around the basketball courts and stuff at around 7 o'clock tonight" The boy told them
"Why did you do this then?" Velvet asked
"Had to, can I go now?" The boy asked
Velvet and Jon exchanged glances.
"Fine" Jonathan said
The boy left and as he went around the corner Jonathan and Velvet started talking.
"So sad. Forced to led a life like that… it's amazing you don't think anything of it" Velvet said
"Nothing we can do, but at least we have a moderate chance at finding out exactly what dataDyne wants with these gangs. Also we must be ready to search elsewhere because the kid could be leading us into either nothing or a trap or he doesn't know everything" Jonathan said
*****
A/N: A bit long with little action, but lots of lead up.